read this in a book
2007-02-15 03:55:51 · 7 answers · asked by ladyvol90 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It is not possible to travel at the speed of light. It is, in theory, possible to get extremely close. Even if you were traveling just under the speed of light, and you flick your headlights on, the light would still travel at the speed of light in front of you, just as if you were standing still and did the same thing. The only difference might be the color of the light, because of the Doppler effect. So, yes, you would still be able to see your headlights (provided the light was still in the visible spectrum). Thus is the nature of relativity and the universe.
Hope this helps.
Edit: If your mass was infinite, it would take an infinite amount of energy to maintain that speed. This is obviously not possible. Thus anything with mass cannot travel at the speed of light.
2007-02-15 04:02:10 · answer #1 · answered by vidigod 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can see, according to Einstein. He performed (or rather thought of) an experiment in which he was flying at the speed of light, holding a mirror in his hand. He asked, whether he would be able to see his image on the mirror or not, 'coz if he were indeed to see his image, then light rays would have to be reflected from the mirror & into his eyes. But since he himself was traveling at the speed of light in the experiment, that seemed unlikely. But Einstein said, after a lot of thinking, that the speed of light is a constant & that it is not affected by anything. So, even if you were racing against light, AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT, even then light would appear to you as it did when you were stationary; that is, the relative speed of light against anything, irrespective of whether it is at rest or in motion, is always a constant, whose value is approximately 300,000,000 m/s. So, I think if you turn on your headlights travelling at the speed of light, you'd be able to see them. This is kind of an absurd notion & one doesn't seem to be too comfortable with it at the beginning, but this is what is universally accepted. And mind you, this is not just a theoretical blah-blah ---- this explanation of the nature of light has led to several results, which we know are correct today.
2007-02-15 12:21:49 · answer #2 · answered by Kristada 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes you will. Even if you are moving at the speed of light relative to say the earth, the light from your car will still propagate from your car with the same speed of light. This is one of Einstein's assumptions in the derivation of special relativity: The speed of light is the same in all reference frames. That is to say no matter what speed you have light will travel with the same relative speed c with respect to you.
2007-02-15 12:05:12 · answer #3 · answered by steve 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you travel at the speed of like, your mass goes to infinity, your length goes to zero and tiime stops. No light would come out of your headlights.
Not: it is not possible to travel at the speed of light.
If you are traveling at a speed just under the speed of light, the light will slowly come out of your headlights. However, to you, the beam of light will act normally because your time frame is slowed down so much.
2007-02-15 12:04:42 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. If it was possible you would not see the light because you would be traveling at the same speed.
2007-02-15 13:27:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anthony C 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You only see your headlights because other objects reflect them (rain, road markers, dead skunks, etc.). The light is travelling at the speed of light relative to you. It shouldn't matter how fast you're going, you should only see it if it is reflected.
2007-02-15 12:10:24 · answer #6 · answered by Fraggle rawk 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'd say no... the light could not leave your car because the light is moving away from the car at the same velocity your are traveling.
2007-02-15 12:08:54 · answer #7 · answered by Evil Genius 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋